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Alarm fires
Ten-alarm fires are huge, dangerous and call hundreds of emergency professionals into action. One such fire occurred in Brooklyn in May of this year and it was one of the worst fires in more than a decade. It began in the afternoon as a six-alarm fire and progressed to ten alarms by the evening. Luckily by morning it was reduced to a two-alarm blaze.
Basically, the number of alarms relates to the number of firefighters called to the scene. However, it is not as simple as that, two-alarm fires don’t necessarily require twice as many firefighters as a one-alarm fire. It may be that dispatch sends twice as many units, brigades or companies but the number of firefighters and type of unit may also vary widely. A unit can refer to any type of firefighting vehicle.
A fire engine, ladder truck or even a small civilian car can be considered a unit. If a civilian vehicle is called to the scene it will usually transport the fire chief and may be called a “buggy”. In New York City 25 units including 106 firefighters are sent out on two-alarm fires. Dispatch will call out 33 units and about 138 firefighters for a three-alarm fire, 39 and 168 for four and 44 and 198 for a five-alarm blaze.
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